I wouldn't marry him again, says wife of Japanese Prime Minister

The wife of Japan's Prime Minister told reporters this week that she would not marry him again in another life.

According to a BBC report, Nobuko Kan said she would want to do something completely different if she had another chance to choose, and her plans would not involve husband Naoko Kan.

Itsuo Inoye / AP

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his wife Nobuko wait for guests arriving for a cultural event at the APEC forum in Yokohama, Japan, in November 2010.

Yoshikazu Tsuno / AFP - Getty Images

Nobuko Kan, wife of Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, holds a copy of her book about her husband during a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday. Japan's outspoken first lady told reporters she would not marry Naoto Kan again if given another life as she showed tough love to the husband now fighting against political rivals and low support ratings.

Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan raises his fist with party members during an annual party convention of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in Chiba, east of Tokyo on Wednesday.

More from BBC reporter Roland Buerk:

She is renowned for pulling few punches, and her husband has called her his toughest critic. She is famous in Japan for her elegant kimonos - and sharp tongue. The prime minister once described her as his opposition at home. Speaking to reporters in Tokyo she said she regularly scolded him. "I've already lived this life once. It would not be interesting to do the same thing again. I would rather live a totally different life," she said. Mrs Kan has turned the Japanese tradition of publicly downplaying the achievements of loved ones into something of an art form. Last year she wrote a book called What on Earth will change in Japan now you are Prime Minister, describing him as a hopeless cook who lacked dress sense and leadership skills.

According to Reuters, the prime minister responded to the book's publication by declaring "I am too scared to read it."